My kids and I can’t get enough fresh seasonal melon. Can you blame us!? Summer melon is super sweet, refreshing, and delicious!

This recipe couldn’t be easier to prepare, and my kids love helping make it because they think scooping out the balls of melon is fun. Served in the melon itself, the final presentation of this recipe is pretty and impressive. Your kids can wow their guests!

True story: When my nine-year-old son had this melon blueberry salad he said, “This is even better than the donut I had earlier today!”

Directions:

Step 1: Use a chef's knife to cut a small slice of the top and bottom of one of the two melons.

Step 2: Slice the melon in half, and then set up each half of the base you made.

Step 3: Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds.

Step 4: Use a melon baller or small (about 1-inch) cookie scoop to scoop melon balls. Being careful not to go too close to the bottom where you cut the base, work your way around the melon until you've gotten most of the "meat" out of it. Add the melon balls to a large mixing bowl as you go.

Step 5: Now cut the second melon in half, remove the seeds, and scoop balls from it, just as you did the first melon. Add the melon balls to the others and then gently toss them with the blueberries, orange, and lime juices.

Step 6: Place the hollowed out melon halves onto plates or shallow bowls. Then pour half of the mixed melon balls into each one and garnish with a couple of basil leaves. Serve chilled.

Valentina's passion is food, and she loves spending time in her "kitchen retreat," as she refers to that room in her house. Valentina develops recipes for creative and comforting food that works perfectly for casual entertaining. Both her recipes and food photography have been featured many times on popular food websites and in print. Valentina shares her beautiful photographs as well as new and interesting recipes almost daily on her blog, Cooking on the Weekends.

Outside the worlds of food and photography, Valentina's other passion is her family (including her two young boys, her husband and her puppy, Maple.)

To learn more about Valentina and where her work has been featured, visit her About page at Cooking On The Weekends.